Attachment for cultivators.



o. 771,149.. PATENTED- SEPT. 27, 1904. L. s. & c. T. HINKSON. ATTACHMENT FOR GULTIVATORS.

APPLICATION FILED 0OT.2,'190 3.

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lnentozs iktiwhm y W Witnesses Patented September 27', 1904.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

LAURIE S. HINKSON AND CHARLES T. HINKSON, OF DALLAS CENTER,

- IOWA.

ATTACHMENT FOR CULTIVATORS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 771,149, dated September 27, 1904.

Application filed October 2, 1903.

To all whom it may concern..-

Be it known that we, LAURIE S. HINKSON' T. HINKsoN, citizens of the and CHARLES United States, residing at Dallas Center, in the county of-Dallas and State of Iowa, have invented a certain new and useful Attachment for Cultivators, of which the following is a specification.

The objects of our invention are to provide a device of simple, durable, and inexpensive construction to be used in the nature of an attachment to be applied to a riding-cultivator for the purpose of removing clods of earth and other obstructions that may have been thrown by the cultivator -shovels upon the plants being cultivated.

More specifically, it is our object to provide a device of this class that may be quickly and easily attached to one of the shovel-supportsuch proximity to the stirrup on the cultivator-beam so that the driver or operator having the toe portion of one foot in the stirrup may place the heel of the same foot on said treadle, and thereby press the toothed portion of the attachment downwardly to run close to the earths surface and to remove clods of earth or other obstructions from the row of plants being cultivated and without pulling up said plants.

Our invention consists in certain details in the construction, arrangement, and combination of the various parts of the device wherej by the objects contemplated are attained, as

hereinafter more fully set forth, pointed out in our claim, and illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 shows a top or plan view of a portion of an ordinary cultivator-beam having our attachment applied thereto as in practical use. Fig. 2 shows a side elevation of same and by dotted lines indicating the position of the attachment when lowered. Fig. 3 shows a front elevation of the attachment itself, and Fig. 4 shows a side view of the Serial No. 175,437; (No model.)

slotted plate used in clamping the attachment to the cultivator-beam. I

Referring to the accompanying drawings, we have used the reference-numeral 10 to indicate one of the shovel-bearing cultivatorbeams of ordinary construction and 11 the stirrup attached thereto and designed to receive the operators toe and to enable the operator to guide the shovel-bearing beam. 111- asmuch as our attachment is designed for use in connection with cultivators of any ordinary kind, it is unnecessary to describe the cultivator itself in detail.

The attachment comprises a clamping-plate 12, having on one face a lateral projection 13 at its lower ends and provided with a vertical slot 14. This plate is designed to rest against the inner face of a cultivator-beam and the projection 13 to pass under said cultivatorbeam. The plate is clamped to the beam by means of a second or detachable plate 15, also provided with a vertical slot 16, and two bolts 17 and 18 are provided to pass through the slots 11 and 16 above and below the beam, thus firmly clamping the plates to thebeam, and by providing the said slots the attachment may be connected with a beam of any ordinary size or shape. Formed on or fixed to the plate 12 is an extension 19, projecting forwardly and upwardly, and a shoulder 20 is formed on the inner face of the plate 12 for purposes hereinafter made clear.

The reference-numeral 21 indicates an arm pivoted at 22 to the inner surface of the plate 12 and curved laterally and inwardly near its central portion. Projecting upwardly from the forward end of the arm 21 is an arm 23, and a contractile coil-spring 24 is attached to the top of the arm 23 and to a bolt 25. This bolt passes through the extension 19, and a thumb-nut 26 is placed on its forward end, by which the tension of the spring 2 1 may be adjusted. The said spring normally holds the arm 21 elevated, and the shoulder 20 limits the forward movement of the arm 23.

The device for removing the clods of earth or other obstructions from the row being cultivated comprises a V-shaped frame 27, having an upwardly-projecting lug 28 at its central portion, and this lug is adjustably secured to the rear end of the arm 21 by the bolt 29, so that the angle of the lug 28 relative to the arm 21 may be adjusted as desired and firmly held in any position in which it is placed. Fixed to the V-shaped frame 27 is a number of teeth 30. Said teeth extend straight downwardly at right angles to the frame 28 and near the central portions they are inclined forwardly, as clearly shown in Fig. 2.

To provide means whereby the operator may conveniently force the arm 21 downwardly when desired, Ihave provided a treadle or foot-rest 31, having an arm 32 provided with a slot 33. This arm is at right angles to the treadle, and a bolt 3a is passed through the arm 21 and through the slot 33. By this means the treadle may be adjusted relative to the arm 21 and firmly held in any position in which it may be placed. In use it is intended that the treadle 31 shall be adjusted to such position relative to the stirrup 11 that an operator may place his toe upon said stirrup, and the heel of the said foot may conveniently rest upon the treadle 31.

In practical use and assuming that it is desired to attach our improvement to a wooden cultivator-beam then the clamping-plates are placed on opposite sides of the beam and the bolts therefor placed near the ends of the slots, to thereby admit the wooden beam, and if it is desired to attach it to a metal beam the upper bolts may be moved downwardly in the slots until it will reach the top of the metal beam, so that our attachment may be readily connected with beams of any kind or of any ordinary size. The lateral bend in the arm 21 is great enough to cause the central portion of the frame 27 to stand directly over the row being cultivated, and the treadle is adjusted to position, so that the operator may conveniently place the heel of one foot on it while the toe'portion of the same foot is resting upon the stirrup of the cultivator member to which the attachment is connected. The operator riding upon the cultivator may when he sees that a elod of earth or other obstruction has been placed upon one of the plates being cultivated readily press downwardly with his heel upon the stirrup, thus forcing the toothed frame downwardly to the level of the earths surface and holding it in this position until the teeth reach the obstruction, whereupon they will engage the obstruction and throw it to one side or the other of the hill. Inasmuch as the teeth are vertically arranged, they will not in any way tend to tear the plants out, and as soon as the particular obstruction has been removed the operator elevates his heel, thus permitting the spring to pull up the toothed frame. Obviously the tension of the spring may be adjusted as desired, so that any given amount of pressure will be sufiicient to force the toothed frame downwardly, and this may be suited to the convenience of the particular operator.

Having thus described our invention, what we claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States therefor, is

The combination with a cultivator-section having a footrest, of a plate detachably secured to the section and formed with a shoulder, an upwardly-projecting arm on the plate, an arm pivoted to the plate and extended rearwardly, a toothed frame adjustably secured to the rear end of said arm, an upward extension at the forward end of said arm, a contractile coil-spring attached to said upward extension, a bolt secured to said spring and passed through the arm of the plate, a thumb-nut on said bolt for adjusting the tension of the spring, and a foot-rest adjustably secured to the arm bearing the toothed frame.

LAURIE S. HINKSON. CHARLES T. HINKSON. Witnesses:

ELwooD HUNNIGUTT, HAL HUNNICUTT. 

